Theater Listings for July 22-28

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Audra McDonald, center, as the chanteuse Lottie Gee in “Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed” at the Music Box Theater. See listing below.CreditSara Krulwich/The New York Times

July 21, 2016

A critical guide to productions in New York City, including shows in previews.

Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current productions, additional listings, showtimes and ticket information are at nytimes.com/theater. A searchable, critical guide to theater is at nytimes.com/events.

Previews and Openings

‘Austin’ (previews start on Saturday; opens on Aug. 4) Ed Setrakian directs Edla Cusick’s new play about a recovering alcoholic (Thomas G. Waites) who returns to Hell’s Kitchen to live with his brother in their childhood home. Lion Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com. (Laura Collins-Hughes)

‘Butler’ (in previews; opens on Wednesday) Richard Strand’s Civil War dramedy is named for the Union Army officer at its center, who must decide what to do when an escaped slave arrives and asks for sanctuary: Is Butler legally bound to return him? Produced by New Jersey Repertory Company. 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, 212-279-4200, 59e59.org. (Collins-Hughes)

‘Cats’ (in previews; opens on July 31) Those Jellicle cats are purring, pawing and prancing their way back to Broadway. Trevor Nunn directs a revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s feline fantasia, with choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler (“Hamilton”), based on the original Gillian Lynne moves. Look for Leona Lewis as the grizzled Grizabella. Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, 877-250-2929, catsthemusical.com. (Alexis Soloski)

‘A Class Act’ (in previews; opens on Monday) Christopher Scott directs this new drama by a lawyer, Norman Shabel, about a class-action lawsuit against a chemical company that has poisoned the water with carcinogens. Produced by Eric Krebs. New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com. (Collins-Hughes)

‘A Day by the Sea’ (previews start on Friday; opens on Aug. 25) When the British playwright N.C. Hunter had his only Broadway production in 1955 with this gentle comedy about a civil servant in middle age, Brooks Atkinson described its theme as “the adolescence of adults.” Austin Pendleton directs this revival for the Mint Theater Company. Beckett Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, 212-239-6200, minttheater.org. (Collins-Hughes)

‘Engagements’ (in previews; opens on Aug. 4) Betrothals are running amok in Lucy Teitler’s dark New England comedy as a young woman aims to head off her best friend’s life-wrecking romantic mistake. Directed by Kimberly Senior for Second Stage Theater’s uptown series. McGinn/Cazale Theater, 2162 Broadway, at West 76th Street, 212-246-4422, 2st.com. (Collins-Hughes)

‘Men on Boats’ (in previews; opens on Aug. 1) The river-riding adventurers are men, but the actors playing them are not, in Jaclyn Backhaus’s re-creation of a Grand Canyon expedition in 1869. Ben Brantley called it a “rollicking history pageant” last summer when he reviewed Clubbed Thumb’s original production, directed by Will Davis. Playwrights Horizons, Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 West 42nd Street, 212-279-4200, playwrightshorizons.org. (Collins-Hughes)

‘The Mushroom Cure’ (in previews; opens on Sunday) Obsessive-compulsive disorder meets hallucinogenic mushrooms in this comic solo show by Adam Strauss, about his attempt to rid himself of disabling illness by ingesting psychedelic drugs. An earlier, overlong version at the 2014 New York International Fringe Festival was eccentric, awkward and funny. Cherry Lane Theater’s Studio Theater, 38 Commerce Street, 866-811-4111, cherrylanetheatre.org. (Collins-Hughes)

‘Paradiso: Chapter 1’ (in previews; opens on Sunday) Ten people at a time have 60 minutes to find their way out of the director Michael Counts’s “Divine Comedy”-inspired action thriller, an immersive-theater take on the escape-room trend, in which finding clues and solving puzzles is the path to freedom. The Koreatown location is revealed when tickets are booked. paradisoescape.com. (Collins-Hughes)

‘Quietly’ (previews start on Wednesday; opens on July 28) In Owen McCafferty’s drama about the legacy of the Troubles, two middle-aged men who long ago were on opposite sides of a bombing meet at a Belfast pub to talk about the past. An Abbey Theater production, directed by Jimmy Fay, making its American debut. Irish Repertory Theater, 132 West 22nd Street, 212-727-2737, irishrep.org. (Collins-Hughes)

Broadway

★ ‘An Act of God’ Playing the Almighty, descended to Earth to give some acerbic advice to benighted humanity, Sean Hayes, of “Will and Grace” fame, brings his appealingly perky charm to David Javerbaum’s pricelessly funny fusillade of irreverence, originally seen last season. Easily the funniest 90 minutes on a New York stage right now (1:30). Booth Theater, 222 West 45th Street, 212-239-6200, anactofgod.com. (Charles Isherwood)

★ ‘The Color Purple’ A makeover made in heaven. The director John Doyle has slimmed down and toned up a show that seemed leaden and garish in its original Broadway incarnation. This musical version of Alice Walker’s celebrated novel about black women finding their voices — which features Heather Headley and, in a star-making performance, Cynthia Erivo — is a triumph of elemental, emotional storytelling. (2:35). Bernard B. Jacobs Theater, 242 West 45th Street, colorpurple.com, 212-239-6200. (Ben Brantley)

★ ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ This timely new production of the much-loved and much-revived 1964 musical comedy honors the show’s ebullience of spirit, as embodied in the Jewish milkman Tevye (an assured and affecting Danny Burstein), living in a Russian shtetl in the early 20th century. But as directed by Bartlett Sher with his customary sensitivity (“The King and I,” “South Pacific”), this multihued staging moves to a heart-stopping conclusion. It’s just a musical, no? Yes, but what a musical (2:35)! Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, at 53rd Street, 212-239-6200, fiddlermusical.com. (Isherwood)

‘Fully Committed’ Jesse Tyler Ferguson is a comic dynamo giving vivid voice to more than 40 characters in Becky Mode’s 1999 comedy about a reservation-taker at a high-end New York restaurant. But watching this beleaguered and harassed character’s travails in the age of income inequality leaves the play with a sour aftertaste (1:30). Lyceum Theater, 149 West 45th Street, 212-239-6200, fullycommittedbroadway.com. (Isherwood)

★ ‘Hamilton’ Yes, it really is that good. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s rap-driven portrait of the rise and fall of Alexander Hamilton, directed by Thomas Kail, makes us feel the unstoppable, urgent rhythm of a nation being born. A show that changes the language of the American musical, while offering resounding evidence that this beleaguered genre is not only surviving but thriving (2:45). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, 877-250-2929, hamiltonbroadway.com. (Brantley)

★ ‘The Humans’ Stephen Karam’s extraordinary comedy-drama — the finest of the season — has transferred to Broadway with its prized virtues intact: a superlative cast; direction from Joe Mantello that deftly navigates its shifts in tone; and, of course, Mr. Karam’s delicate but trenchant writing, depicting with great humor and empathy a middle-class family on the edge of the abyss (1:35). Sunday is the play’s last day at the Helen Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com; it will begin performances at the Gerald Shoenfeld Theater starting August 9. (Isherwood)

‘On Your Feet!’ This latest jukebox musical to plug in to Broadway’s power strip tells the story of Gloria and Emilio Estefan’s rise to pop-chart success with crowd-pleasing flair and plenty of itchy-feet-making dance music. The vibrant Ana Villafañe and Josh Segarra star as the Cuban-born Estefans (2:20). Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway, at 45th Street, 877-250-2929, onyourfeetmusical.com. (Isherwood)

★ ‘School of Rock: The Musical’ Andrew Lloyd Webber’s friskiest show in decades. Based on the 2003 movie, this story of a rock ’n’ roll nerd (played by Alex Brightman, a bouncing Super Ball of energy) who teaches a class of regimented fifth graders (a fabulous band of preadolescents) to “stick it to the man” is as amiably easygoing as it is loud (2:20). Winter Garden Theater, 1634 Broadway, at 50th Street, schoolofrockthemusical.com, 212-239-6200. (Brantley)

‘Waitress’ A thrilling performance by Jessie Mueller (“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical”) brings some much-needed depth of feeling to this slick but superficial musical based on the movie about a pie-baking diner worker in distress. The score, by the pop singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, is also beguiling, but Diane Paulus’s production flattens the ancillary characters into cartoons (2:35). Brooks Atkinson Theater, 256 West 47th Street, waitressthemusical.com, 877-250-2929. (Isherwood)

Off Broadway

‘Cagney’ When the hero of Robert Creighton, Christopher McGovern and Peter Colley’s Hollywood musical shows his stuff as a tap dancer, you may want to buy war bonds. Otherwise, this show has a pleasantly cartoonish revue vibe (2:20). Westside Theater Upstairs, 407 West 43rd Street, 212-239-6200, cagneythemusical.com. (Anita Gates)

★ ‘Drunk Shakespeare’ Probably you’ve seen streamlined, amped-up productions of Shakespeare before, but the gimmick here is that as the performance of “Macbeth” begins, one of the actors downs a mind-fogging number of shots. What follows is a wild mash-up of Shakespeare and pop-culture references that seems chaotically improvised but takes a deceptive amount of skill to execute. The audience sits right up against the action and sometimes gets drawn into it (1:30). The Lounge, Roy Arias Stages, 300 West 43rd Street, fourth floor, drunkshakespeare.com. (Neil Genzlinger)

★ ‘The Effect’ The irreducibility of love is the subject of Lucy Prebble’s very clever — and ultimately more than clever — play about a couple who meet as guinea pigs for a clinical trial for an antidepressant. David Cromer’s deeply empathic production — and Susannah Flood and Carter Hudson’s intense central performance — remind us that in exciting theater, feeling trumps science (2:00). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, West Village, 212-868-4444, barrowstreettheatre.com. (Brantley)

‘The Execution of Mrs. Cotton’ Despite having been inspired by real-life female serial killers, Sara Fellini’s “The Execution of Mrs. Cotton” is less interested in exploring a 19th-century murderer’s psyche than in introducing a parade of flamboyant characters. Despite welcome glimpses of grotesque humor, this overlong show is erratic rather than rollicking. Ms. Fellini, who also plays the title character, and Samuel Adams, the director, also retreat rather than fully commit to the story’s most deliciously ghoulish side: They are content with “petit” rather than Grand Guignol (2:30). IRT Theater, 154 Christopher Street, spitnvigor.com. (Elisabeth Vincentelli)

‘Good’ and ‘No End of Blame’ Jim Petosa directs C.P. Taylor’s “Good,” a Nazi drama about regular people’s critical role in aiding the rise of evil. It’s a stealthily constructed play whose experimental use of music — as something that lives in the mind of its main character, a German academic named John Halder (played with uncommon lucidity by Michael Kaye) — doesn’t quite come off in this Potomac Theater Project production. At the start of Act II of “No End of Blame: Scenes of Overcoming,” Richard Romagnoli’s production of Howard Barker’s defiant play comes suddenly to life, and mostly stays that way. Thank goodness, because Alex Draper’s tender, supple lead performance as a Hungarian artist railing against 20th-century oppression had been desperate for lively company in this Potomac Theater Project production (2:15 each). Atlantic Stage 2, 330 West 16th Street, Chelsea, 866-811-4111, ptpnyc.org. (Collins-Hughes)

★ ‘Hadestown’ A folk opera by Anais Mitchell adapted from the classic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Ms. Mitchell’s beautiful score is enhanced by superb performances (Patrick Page is a standout as Hades) and Rachel Chavkin’s spare but inventive direction (2:05). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, 212-460-5475, nytw.org. (Isherwood)

‘Himself and Nora’ James Joyce was a lovely tenor, so a musical retelling of his life with Nora Barnacle makes a certain kind of sense. Jonathan Brielle’s conventional show is a curious means of going about it, though. Directed by Michael Bush and starring Matt Bogart as Joyce and Whitney Bashor as Nora, it’s foreign in style and spirit to Joyce’s writing and the couple’s own milieu. Nothing here challenges the mind (2:15). Minetta Lane Theater, 18 Minetta Lane, Manhattan; 800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com. (Collins-Hughes)

‘iLuminate’ More spectacle than story, “iLuminate” offers technology as its most dazzling star. Conceived, produced and directed by Miral Kotb, a former software engineer, the show employs about a dozen talented, indefatigable young actor-dancers, encased in black suits wired with digitally controlled lights. Performing in total darkness to a score combining hip-hop, jazz and classical influences, they portray the tale of an artist whose magic paintbrush is stolen for evil ends. Much of the action is like a neon comic book, but it does have its magic moments (0:55). Theater 80 St. Marks, 80 St. Marks Place, 866-811-4111; iluminate.com. (Laurel Graeber)

‘Katdashians! Break the Musical!’ It’s a mash-up: the Kardashians grafted onto a “Cats”-like musical. It’s not completely mindless fun: There’s a theme about the addictive quality of empty celebrity-ism, as well as an empowerment message for one particular character. A working knowledge of Kardashian lore is necessary to get the full impact (1:30). Elektra Theater, 300 West 43rd Street, katdashiansthemusical.com. (Genzlinger)

‘Liberty: A Monumental New Musical’ Earnest, sentimental and intermittently charming, this family production offers a slice of American history that here tastes mostly like apple pie. Dana Leslie Goldstein, who wrote the book and lyrics, has turned the Statue of Liberty into a walking, talking character in this story about the arduous quest to get the American funds for the statue’s base. Although the show would be better off with a flesh-and-blood heroine, it does have a solid score (by Jon Goldstein, Ms. Goldstein’s brother) and a winning star (the teenage Abigail Shapiro). (1:20). 42West, 514 West 42nd Street, 866-811-4111, libertythemusical.com. (Graeber)

‘The Marvelous Wonderettes’ When the scheduled singers at a 1958 senior prom cancel, the title characters of this jukebox musical step in. The quartet sings hits of the era — all from a female perspective — and in the second act they return at their 10-year reunion, weathered and wiser (2:00). Kirk Theater, Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com. (Andy Webster)

‘One Funny Mother’ In this solo show, Dena Blizzard jokes about her children and her husband, but she never really makes her household anything other than a generic one. There are plenty of laughs but no overarching theme or point. It’s a show aimed at parents, especially young mothers, who want to foster the idea that raising children is an impossibly demanding task (1:30). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, 212-239-6200, onefunnymother.com. (Genzlinger)

★ ‘Oslo’ J.T. Rogers’s absorbing historical drama takes you into the rooms where it happened — specifically, the tension-filled chambers in Norway where the Oslo Accords between Israel and the P.L.O. were forged in 1993. Directed by Bartlett Sher, and featuring a priceless Jennifer Ehle and Jefferson Mays as backdoor peace negotiators, this vivid, amazingly lucid production elicits the all-too-human factor in international diplomacy (2:55). Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, 212-239-6200, lct.org. (Brantley)

‘The Power of Punctuation’ A smart and surprisingly incisive wee-hours comedy by Natalie Margolin about the rules of friendship among three female college roommates with a deliciously unforgiving methodology for dealing with text messages from guys. Directed by Casey Griffin, it’s a small, welcome oasis of entertainment in the middle of this fraught summer (1:05). Davenport Theater, 354 West 45th Street; 929-260-0767; powerofpunctuationplay.com. (Collins-Hughes) ​

‘Privacy’ Good tidings are spread with great cheer in James Graham and Josie Rourke’s perky investigation into the consequences of living your life online. Starring a charmingly woebegone Daniel Radcliffe, this documentary comedy-fantasy offers the 21st-century equivalent of a magic show, in which audiences leave on their smartphones and Big Brother looks into what passes for their souls through surveillance technology (2:30). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, East Village, 212-967-7555, publictheater.org. (Brantley)

‘Shear Madness’ This astonishingly durable interactive murder mystery has been running in Boston since Jimmy Carter was in the White House, and some of the jokes in the late-arriving New York incarnation definitely show their years. But the tone of this improv-heavy play depends hugely on the performers. They lend an inclusive spirit of fun to the proceedings, set in a Manhattan hair salon where the audience determines which character is the most likely suspect (2:00). Davenport Theater, 354 West 45th Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, shearmadness.com. (Collins-Hughes)

‘Simon Says’ Mat Schaffer’s one-act thriller is almost like attending a real channeling of some ancient spirit. The cast, including Brian Murray, is strong, and the effects are modest but thrilling; too bad the ending is all too pat (1:20). Lynn Redgrave Theater at Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, Manhattan, 866-811-4111, cultureproject.org. (Gates)

★ ‘Small Mouth Sounds’ Bess Wohl’s quiet (literally) gem of a play, about a half-dozen troubled souls on a silent spiritual retreat, has been restaged by the director Rachel Chavkin with all its wit, compassion and sparkle fully intact. The sound of silence onstage has rarely made such sweet music (1:40). Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street, 212-279-4200, smallmouthsounds.com. (Isherwood)

‘Trip of Love’ This bloated concoction takes a seemingly random collection of Top 40 hits from the 1960s and turns them into dance numbers, with a sparse, clichéd girl-meets-boy story woven in. Ridiculous stuff, but the big-budget sets are sometimes fun (1:50). Stage 42, 422 West 42nd Street, 212-239-6200, tripoflove.com. (Genzlinger)

★ ‘White Rabbit, Red Rabbit’ Each Monday a new actor will meet the challenge of this engaging, enigmatic solo play (with the audience in a supporting role) by the Iranian writer Nassim Soleimanpour. The performer sees the script only when he or she steps onstage. A schedule of performers is available on the website (1:15). Westside Theater, 407 West 43rd Street, 212-239-6200, whiterabbitredrabbit.com. (Isherwood)

★ ‘The Grand Paradise’ The immersive theater troupe Third Rail (“Then She Fell”) has created a lush, 1970s-style tropical resort for virtual hedonists. An experience that allows you to have and remember a wild vacation simultaneously, with both romantic promise and retrospective regret. Be prepared to be touched a lot, and to hear New Age gobbledygook about love and death (2:00). 383 Troutman Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn, 718-374-5196, thegrandparadise.com. (Brantley)

‘Puffs, Or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic’ Aimed at grown-up Potterphiliacs, Matt Cox’s teasingly affectionate, fast-paced parody of the Hogwarts universe embraces, with varying success, the nerds whom the sorting hat assigns to the house called Puff. The fine ensemble includes the sublimely hilarious Madeleine Bundy as Harry (1:20). The Peoples Improv Theater, 123 East 24th Street, thepit-nyc.com. (Collins-Hughes)

Extravaganzas

‘New York Spectacular’ A shiny, dispiriting Rockettes extravaganza with direction and choreography by Mia Michaels and a script by Douglas Carter Beane, this misshapen enterprise is seemingly aimed at people who would rather sit back and watch a sanitized simulation of the city than engage with the messy real thing. The Rockettes are majestic, but the show around them could use a lot less cynicism (1:30). Radio City Music Hall, 866-858-0008, rockettes.com/newyork. (Collins-Hughes)

Long-Running Shows

‘Aladdin’ The Disney movie refashioned for the stage, with shtick, sparkles and silliness cutting the syrup (2:20). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, 866-870-2717, aladdinthemusical.com.

‘An American in Paris’ The ballet luminary Christopher Wheeldon makes a triumphant debut as a Broadway director with this rhapsodic stage adaptation of a classic musical with a heavenly Gershwin score. Pure joy (2:30). The Palace Theater. 1564 Broadway, at 47th Street, ticketmaster.com, 877-250-2929.

‘Les Misérables’ The celebrated musical about that hard-luck bread-stealer is back — again (2:50). Imperial Theater, 249 West 45th Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com.

‘Perfect Crime’ The murder mystery that has been investigated since 1987 (1:30). The Theater Center, 210 West 50th Street, 800-745-3000, perfect-crime.com.

‘The Phantom of the Opera’ Who was that masked man anyway (2:30)? Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com.

‘Ruthless!’ This spiked Shirley Temple of a show, which first opened in 1992 and returned in 2015 with less fizz, follows the adventures of a stage-struck prepubescent with occasional homicidal tendencies (1:35). St. Luke’s Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, ruthlessthemusical.com.

‘Sex Tips for Straight Women From a Gay Man’ Part bachelorette party at Chippendales, part embarrassing midnight show in Pigalle (1:20). 777 Theater, 777 Eighth Avenue, at 47th Street, 888-841-4111, sextipsplay.com.

Last Chance

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From left, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Joshua Henry, Brandon Victor Dixon and Billy Porter in “Shuffle Along.”CreditSara Krulwich/The New York Times

★ ‘Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed’ (closes on Sunday) George C. Wolfe’s reimagining of this all-black musical from 1921 often feels as if it’s been written according to a checklist of essential historical and editorial points to be made. But the clunky exposition doesn’t overwhelm the sweeping grace of its vintage musical numbers, vibrantly choreographed by Savion Glover, or Audra McDonald’s robust, witty turn as a Jazz Age chanteuse (2:40). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, 212-239-6200, shufflealongbroadway.com. (Brantley)